


The Prevention of a Really Bad Idea

by GeckoGirl89



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Anti Danny/Rachel, Fix-It, Hopeful Ending, M/M, Mentions of Canon Infidelity, POV Steve, Pining, Post-Episode: s07e20 Huikau Na Makau A Ka Lawai'a (The Fishhooks of the Fishers Become Entangled), Worried Steve McGarrett
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-10-14 00:01:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10524684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeckoGirl89/pseuds/GeckoGirl89
Summary: Danny deserved to be with someone who loved and treasured him, someone who would realize just how lucky they were to know Danny at all, much less have the chance to be with him. Steve knew Rachel could never be that person for Danny.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I'm worried and somewhat annoyed about the fact that the show is hinting at Danny getting back together with Rachel. I don't think Danny would be willing to risk having a relationship with her after everything she has put him through (especially lying about Charlie). I hope it doesn't happen, and not just because I'm a McDanno fan. Danny/Rachel is the worst possible endgame pairing for Danny, and I really don't want to see him trapped in a toxic relationship. I wrote this fic to alleviate some of my frustrations. There is some pining from Steve's POV in this fic, and the reader can decide if that pining is reciprocated or not.
> 
> In other news, I have several stories that I wrote for this fandom and others that I originally posted on other websites since the middle of February. I will post those stories over here soon.

While they were driving to work the next day, Danny mentioned that he had visited Rachel the previous night and that she had to explain to Grace and Charlie that she and Stan were getting a divorce and that Stan would be in Las Vegas from now on.

Steve glanced at his partner's troubled, pensive expression, and his mind raced with all of the questions he had.

Steve returned his gaze to the road, unable to look Danny in the eye as he asked the first question that sprang to mind. "Do you... do you think Stan was right about Rachel?" He dreaded the answer.

"I don't know," Danny said, and his voice was so soft that it was barely audible over the air conditioner. "Maybe."

Danny bit his lip and seemed lost in thought. Steve was working up the courage to ask Danny if he was thinking of getting back together with Rachel when they pulled up to Iolani Palace. They entered the office in a foreboding silence that was unlike them. Usually, there would be comfortable banter, but instead Steve had to contend with Harry's suggestions about Danny and Rachel rekindling their relationship. Steve swallowed the bile that rose at the back of his throat at the idea.

Steve would have preferred the banter. He would have preferred anything over this.

Steve had never really seen Rachel do anything but make Danny miserable since he had known the man. She was the reason Danny had moved out to Hawaii in the first place, to follow the daughter that she taken with her and her new husband. Danny had to leave behind his family and his home because of her. And when she got to Hawaii, she repeatedly challenged their custody agreement, which lessened the precious and limited time Danny got to spend with Grace.

Steve knew that Rachel's decision to go back to Stan after their affair had hurt Danny deeply at the time, but he was far more outraged when he learned that she hid Charlie's paternity for three goddamn years after the fact. Danny would still be living in ignorance of the fact that Charlie was his son if the little boy hadn't needed a bone marrow transplant. After that revelation, Steve felt pretty disgusted at Rachel. How the hell could Rachel believe that it was okay to lie to Danny like that? Nobody deserved that, especially a man as wonderful and caring as Danny was. Danny deserved to be with someone who loved and treasured him, someone who would realize just how lucky they were to know Danny at all, much less have the chance to be with him.

Steve knew that Rachel could never be that person for Danny. Danny would probably never consider Steve that way, but Steve had quietly accepted that truth a long time ago. As long as Danny was happy, he would be fine. But Rachel would likely end up breaking Danny's heart _again_ , and Steve wanted to do or say something to prevent that from happening. Danny meant the world to him, and the idea of Danny being hurt in any way made Steve's gut churn in anxious concern.

Steve didn't get a chance to ask Danny about what he planned to do that day. The team was slammed with multiple cases at once, and Steve and Danny didn't have a moment to spare for long personal conversations. Steve observed Danny when he could and saw that he held his back and shoulders stiffly, as if he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Steve knew that it probably had more to do with his situation with Rachel than the cases they were working on. Danny was focused on the job at hand, but there was something about his bearing that suggested his mind was a million miles away. Steve hoped that Danny wasn't seriously considering going back to Rachel. He had been with Gabby and then Melissa, and Steve clung to those facts, trying to convince himself that he couldn't still be carrying a torch for Rachel after everything she had put him through.

The next day was much less busy, and midway through the morning, Steve asked Danny to talk with him in the office just as Danny had two days earlier. Danny shut the door behind him softly and sat down next to him on the couch.

"What's up?" he asked.

Steve drew in a deep breath and leaned against the arm of the couch, trying to consider how to start. "Danny, I'm worried. You've seemed kind of off these past couple of days."

Danny rubbed his forehead tiredly as if he had a headache. "This Rachel thing has really thrown me for a loop."

Steve grimaced. That was what he had suspected. "Look, I know it's not really any of my business," he hedged. Steve ignored the part of him which whispered every part of Danny's life was his business and continued. "But I don't think you should get back together with Rachel, even if Stan was right about why they were having problems. She's hurt you so many times, and some of what she did to you was just..." He trailed off and looked into Danny's eyes. Danny seemed to pick up the fact that Steve had been referring to her lie about Charlie and frowned down at the floor. Steve placed a firm hand on Danny's shoulder. "You deserve better than that, Danny. I think getting back with her would be a really bad idea."

After the longest ten seconds of Steve's life, Danny sighed. His shoulder finally released the tension that it had held since the previous day. "You're right. I was actually thinking the same thing."

Steve let out the breath he had been holding. "That's good."

Danny gazed at Steve, and his expression was muddled with shame and a touch of sadness. "I admit I thought about it for a minute there. I was married to Rachel, and I guess there will always be a part of me that cares about her and hates to see her hurting. But then I thought about everything she and I've been through, and I just couldn't. I feel like I can't trust her enough to be with her anymore." Danny laughed, and the sound was hollow. Steve squeezed his shoulder, and Danny's lips quirked in appreciation momentarily before returning to their previous frown. "I know I haven't always made the best decisions when it comes to her, but even I'm not enough of a masochist to put myself through the wringer with her again. And even if Stan was right..." Danny shook his head. "Even if he was, I don't think I'm still in love with her."

Steve retracted his hand from Danny's shoulder and smiled. He was glad that all of his concerns about Danny and Rachel were unnecessary. "Well, it's good to know that Harry was totally off-base."

Danny surprised Steve by shrugging and releasing a weary sigh. "I think he might have been right about me and Melissa, though. I mean she has been my girlfriend for three years." His eyes widened the way they always did before he started to worry about something. "I mean, I don't think it has anything to do with Rachel, but I should be able to say that, right?"

Steve shook his head with a fond grin. "I think you should only worry about one relationship problem at a time, Danno," he teased.

Danny stood up from the couch. "I think you've been picking up too much from our therapist," he retorted. "Apparently, you're the relationship guru now."

Steve laughed and stood up as well. They walked, in sync, to the door that led out to the bullpen. "I don't know if I'd say that."

Danny opened the door. "Let's face it, babe. As dysfunctional as we are, we'll probably end up grumpy old bachelors."

Steve followed Danny out into the office. "I doubt it." He hid a private smile at the thought of them ending up together instead of single as Danny predicted, but he decided, at least for now, to keep that wistful little musing tucked up against his heart where it would make him feel warm inside. His smile faded as he focused on Chin's discovery about the victim's financial records that he showed everyone at the tech table, but Steve felt an inner glow for the rest of the day.


End file.
